The preservation of food has been a principle concern of mankind since the dawn of civilization. During early civilization, food preservation processes developed slowly and were mainly limited to smoking or curing with salt. With the advent of the industrial revolution and the discovery that food spoilage was due to the activity of living organisms such as bacteria, yeast or molds, the art of preserving food developed rapidly.
Present day methods for preserving food include sterilization by heat, refrigeration, drying, pickling and the addition of chemical preservatives. Sterilization by heat is useful since it provides complete destruction of all bacterial life. However, heat sterilization is not well suited for treating heat sensitive food stuffs. Further, heat sterilization does not prevent subsequent attack by bacteria. Preservation of food by refrigeration requires the continued operation of refrigeration systems. Drying of food by processes such as freeze-drying is an effective food preservation process; however, such drying techniques require specialized equipment and are not well suited for many types of foods. The use of chemical preservatives is also a popular food preservation technique since chemical preservatives can be added to many different types of food stuffs and do not require special processing equipment or continuous attention as in freeze-drying or refrigeration. The use of chemical preservatives, however, is undesirable since the chemical adulterants incorporated into the food may be harmful to the human body.
In order to overcome the problems inherent in mixing chemical additives directly into food, processes have been developed in which the food to be preserved is stored in an atmosphere containing gaseous chemical additives which prevent microbial growth without having to be incorporated into the food. One process which as been widely used involves preserving food by storage in an atmosphere of gaseous ethanol. Although the storage of food in an ethanol vapor atmosphere has been found effective in preserving a wide variety of foods, further improvements are necessary especially with regards to preserving high moisture foods, such as fresh meat and fresh fish. In order to completely prevent the growth of microbes in fresh meat and fresh fish, a high concentration of ethanol vapors in the atmosphere surrounding the fish is necessary. As a result, the meat and fish become tainted with the odor of ethanol. Although the partial absorption of ethanol by the meat or fish is not a health hazard, it does produce a bad taste in the meat or fish. It would be desirable to provide a process for preserving high moisture foods in which the amount of ethanol necessary to preserve the food is reduced so that the food will not become tainted.